Shoulder Season Starts at Jersey Shore [POLL/AUDIO]

If you didn’t get to the beach this summer, now could be a good time. That’s the message from tourism officials in New Jersey who are urging residents to take advantage of the “shoulder season,” which lasts from Labor Day through the end of October.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

“It think the shoulder season is very important to state tourism. It’s a wonderful time of year, it gives everyone a chance to catch up especially if we had a couple of rainy days over the summer and we did. So, hopefully we can recoup some of those losses in the fall,” said Grace Hanlon, executive director of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. “We have all kinds of great events and festivals that are going on from now through the end of October. It’s a great time for people to take advantage.”

It’s too early to predict what the financial impact of the shoulder season will be because it hasn’t quite happened yet.

“Traditionally, it starts around Labor Day and runs through Halloween. Things start winding down right before Thanksgiving as far as the outdoor fall festivals go. There is the Cape May Food and Wine celebration, there’s the Chowder Fest in Long Beach Island and all kinds of events like these. All of these festivals have a great economic impact on tourism and they are incredibly important on the local level,” said Hanlon.

As for the beach, it’s still a great time to go.

Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll.

“For people who don’t have children starting school, it’s a great time at the Jersey Shore. You’re going to get the better hotel rates, it’s not as crowded and you still have wonderful weather. So, we definitely want to reach those people who are looking to vacation during these first few weeks of September,” said Hanlon. “The best thing we can do in helping with the Sandy recovery is to keep attending these local events and festivals, keep visiting the Jersey Shore. It really does help. Not only is it nice to go and the spend money in these local communities, but you’ll probably have a great time too.”

Click here for more information on upcoming fall events in New Jersey.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Welcome back to Point Clique

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on .
To keep your personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you.
To activate your account, please confirm your password.
When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to Point Clique

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://943thepoint.com using your original account information.